Where: JC Cinema
When: Monday, September 19
Who: Legal Scholar, Daniel Sharfstein
I chose to attend this event because I am Criminal Justice major, and the law really catches my interest, and also, in the description of this event, it said that his book explores the topical of racial identity in the US as not just being black or white. To be completely honest, I thought I would be more blown away and intrigued by his presentation, however, I was not.
In his book, he focuses on three separate families around the time of Reconstruction and how it effected the colored families. His goal was to show what it meant to be white and what it meant to be black, and how it changed over time. Of the three families, one owned sugar plantations, another was poor and owned a farm, while the third were rising blacks in the United States. He spoke about how this last family "crossed the white line" and "became white." I suppose that this is where the title of his book comes in: The Invisible Line.
I was getting more, I suppose, offended than becoming fascinated but maybe that was his point. After thinking about it more, I think that was his point: to make people realize the reality by provoking them with the shocking truth. The fact that he was stating things along the line of whites having an advantage in the country bothered me, but I feel like it bothered me because sadly, it's the truth.
Melanie,
ReplyDeleteInteresting post and interesting comments. I do wonder about the provocation that you mentioned. Of course, you don't necessarily have to agree with a person like this either -- but it's good to have our own views challenged, because it's how we figure out exactly what it is we believe.